The Homeboy and The Virgin

10-Duke

    Of course nothing would work on Junior. She was immune to every charm I had. My voice, my body, my kisses, my looks… nothing worked on her. And it was pissing me off because she was getting me in ways she didn’t even know was working. Her smile, her laugh, the way she grabbed her stomach when she found something really funny. And her eyes shining after she laughed.

    The image I conjured up made my bottom half stir.

    Nope. Not right now, boy. Not when I’m in a house full of boys. I quickly brought up a picture of my Grandma to squelch the image.

     I shook thoughts of Junior out of my head as I turned to Kyle. “What’s your problem?” I demanded. Like Junior had pointed out, Kyle’s admission had nothing to do with actually liking her. I knew for a fact he thought of her like a little sister. He wanted nothing more than for her to be protected.

   “Keeping her away from you.”

    I couldn’t believe this. Junior? Away from me? “You’re my best friend—you’re supposed to be on my side!” I protested.

    “Yeah. I’m with you 100% of the way, Duke. I understand why you feel like you have to take it out on Junior. But it’s not fair to her.” He crossed his arms, giving me an accusing look. “Your problem is with Laila and Crank, not Junior. You need to keep her out of this.”

   I glared at him. “We had this discussion already.”

   “And we’ll keep having it until you realize you’re wrong. Junior isn’t the type to take this lightly. If she even half-way finds out what you’re all about, you’ll be in for a rude awakening. She is a bad bitch; she has to be, being Crank’s little sister.”

    Yeah, sure. Junior, being able to control me. I highly doubted that. “Kyle, listen and listen close: never have I ever given that much power to a girl besides Laila. And look how that turned out. If I were to choose a girl, it sure as fuck wouldn’t be Junior. I want eye candy, not a pretty girl with a  bad attitude.” Liar, my subconscious screamed at me. I was able to shut it up easily over the headache. I could focus on only the here and now.

     He just gave me a look. “You’ve given Junior a helluva lot more than power. She’s got you whipped.”

     “It’s all for a bet.” And I wanted—needed—to be her first, so I could leave her. Just like Laila did me. Crank would be pissed off, no doubt.

     He snorted, but it wasn’t in humor. “Keep telling yourself that, and maybe you’ll start to believe it, Duke.” He uncrossed his arms and sat back down. “Like I said, Junior will eat you up and spit you out, then walk all over what’s left of you. You lusted Laila, but, by the time you get to sleep with Junior, you’ll be head over heels in love. You won’t walk away from this one unscathed, buddy.”

     His ominous tone almost sent chills through my body—almost. But then I realized something. I was Duke. Girls wanted to be with me, boys wanted to be me. I was a Homeboy. If I chose to have a girl from here to Mexico, I could. Easily. And there was no girl I wanted to actually keep.

   Except Junior.

   Oh, shut the fuck up, mind. It was nothing but my hormones speaking. I had never went this long without fucking a girl since I spent that week in abstinence for football championships. Why should I wait that long? I was only making girls’ wishes come true. If they tossed me the pitch, damn right I was gonna hit it over the fence.

    “You sound like you actually like Junior,” I told him, jealousy hitting me for some reason.

     “She’s like a little sister to me. She’s pretty, but she’s too sweet to smash and dash, and I’m not interested in much else. As a big brother, I’m keeping her far away from you. And if that means telling her I love her, I’m gonna do it.” He gave me a steely look. “As a best friend, I’m keeping her on her toes with you. You can’t handle her by herself.”